05-15-2009

Tacoma Welcomes Home Third Round of Act Six Graduates from Whitworth University

Tacoma has reason to cheer as eight more of the city’s emerging urban leaders prepare to graduate this Sunday from Whitworth University as part of the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative.

The Act Six Cadre Three graduates will be recognized in a community celebration in Tacoma on Friday, May 22, at 7:00 p.m. at Bellarmine Preparatory School.  Sponsors of the celebration include Nordstrom and State Farm Insurance.  The press and public are invited with RSVP.

The eight Act Six Whitworth graduates are, with their degrees and high schools:

Michelle Bess, B.A. Biology (Bellarmine Preparatory School)

Chris Caldwell, B.A. Communication (Life Christian Academy)

Kendria Dickson, B.A. Sociology (Bellarmine Preparatory School)

Anthony Howard, B.A. Business Administration (Lincoln High School)

Lissie Mendes, B.A. English (Bellarmine Preparatory School)

Vi Nguyen, B.A. Economics (Lincoln High School)

Obe Quarless, B.A. Music (Bellarmine Preparatory School)

Jeremiah Sataraka, B.A. Sociology (Henry Foss High School)

Launched in 2002 by the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) in Tacoma, Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities. Since the program’s inception, six cadres of ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholars from urban Tacoma and Seattle have enrolled at Whitworth and one cadre at Pacific Lutheran University.  Northwest University, Gonzaga University, and Trinity Lutheran College joined the initiative last year and the first cadre of scholars will enroll this fall.

Act Six develops leaders through a simple, but powerful, four-step strategy:

• Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of Washington’s most promising emerging urban leaders.
• Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically, and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
• Send and fund the teams together to select faith-based colleges in Washington on four year, full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
• Support and inspire by providing strong campus support and ongoing leadership development to nurture these young people as they find their vocation and grow into the next generation of community leaders.

This year’s graduation brings the total number of Act Six alumni to 29.  Overall, more than 90 percent of scholars selected for the program have graduated or are still enrolled – reflecting graduation and retention rates that far exceed national averages. Cadre three scholar Obe Quarless was elected president of the Associated Students of Whitworth University for 2008-09. Quarless is the second Act Six scholar in the last three years to become student body president. Act Six scholars have been involved in numerous other leadership roles on and off campus.

“The Act Six program has brought to Whitworth an extraordinary group of students who have enriched our campus through their leadership and service, even as we have taught and mentored them,” says Whitworth President Bill Robinson. “The program requires big investments, but it also delivers big rewards. So, it would be irresponsible and morally unacceptable if we didn’t explore ways to expand Act Six to other schools.”

“Our scholars are having a profound impact through their leadership on campus, and as they begin to graduate we look forward to their impact in the community,” says Tim Herron, founder and national director of Act Six. “This is what we envisioned when we launched Act Six and what we are now seeing replicated around the state and nation.”

Nationally, Act Six affiliates also have been established at Crichton College in Memphis, Tenn., and George Fox University in Newberg, Ore.

Learn more about Act Six online at www.actsix.org.

Those wishing to attend next week’s community celebration should RSVP with Crystal Ben, Act Six assistant director, at (253) 272-0771 ext. 111 or cviken@northwestleaderhip.org.

The Northwest Leadership Foundation is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Tacoma, Wash. Since 1989, the foundation has worked to move individuals and organizations from good intentions to effective outcomes in its effort to encourage, strengthen and develop leadership for the spiritual and social renewal of the city.

Contacts:

Tim Herron, Act Six national director, Northwest Leadership Foundation, (253) 272-0771 ext.109 or therron@northwestleadership.org

Esther Louie, assistant dean for intercultural student affairs, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4572 or elouie@whitworth.edu